Telegraphic apparatus



P. L. POPE.

TELEGRAPHIG APPARATUS.

No 284,481. Patented'Sept. 4, 1883.

Witnesses Inventor.- I WW %JK 4 certain mechanism.

UNITED? STATES;

OFFICE;

FRANK L. POPE, ()F- ELIZABETH, NEV JERSEY.

TELEGRAPH IC A'PPARA'TUSI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 284,481, dated"September 4,' 1E83,

Application filed April 22, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. Porn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telegraphic Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

In the application of the well known Morse system of telegraphy to lines having but two stations, one at each end, a registering or recording apparatus is sometimes employed for receiving communications, which is provided with a device known as a selfstarter, by means of which the clockwork or other maintaining power of the recording apparatus is automatically released by the first movement of the marking-lever, and continues to run while the communication is being transmitted and recorded, after which it is automatically stopped. In this manner communications transmitted over the line may be automatically recorded at the receiving-station in the absence of an attendant. A serious objection to the practical use of the apparatus which has heretofore been employed for this purpose arises from the fact that it affords no means whereby the operator transmitting the communication may ascertain with certainty that the same has been properly received and recorded by the apparatus at the distant station. For example, if the li ne is accidentally in electrical connection with the earth at some intermediate point, or if the receiving-instrument is out of order or improperly adjusted,

it frequently happens that no record whatever is made at the receiving-station, although the sender has no means of knowing that such is the case.

My invention consists in the employment of in connection with the marking-lever of the recording apparatus at the distant or receiving station, by means of which the same telegraphic signals are automatically retransmitted over the same line to the home or sending station at the same instant that they are recorded upon the paper, while at the home station a relay of peculiar construction. responds to these retransmitted signals in such manner as to actuate a sounder, register, or other receivinginstrument. The

reproduction of the transmitted signals upon the instrument at the home or sending station is therefore wholly dependent upon the proper shows one terminal station arranged for either sending or iec eiving, and also shows certain modifications in the details of the apparatus.

In Fig. l, A represents the sending-station, andB the receiving-station. K is an ordinary Morse key, and M is a relay of peculiar construction, both of which are placed at the home or sending station. The relay M is provided with a yielding contact-lever, c, which has its fulcrum at c, and is normally held in contact with an adjustable stationary contactstop, d, by the tension of the adjustable spring 9. The armature-lever a is in like manner normally held against its back-stop f by the tension of the adjustable spring a; but when drawn forward by the attractive force of the electromagnet M, exerted upon its armature, it is brought into contact with the short arm of the yielding contact-lever c. The electro-ma-gnet S of a suitable receiving-instrument, which may be either a sounder, a register, or an indicator of any kind, is placed in the circuit of a local battery, L, the terminals of which are connected, respectively, with the armature-1e ver a and the contact-stop (1. Thus it will be understood by an inspection of the diagram that the local circuit, which actuates the electro-magnet S, can be closed only when the armature-lever a rests against the short arm of the yielding contact-lever c, and the longer arm of the latter at the same time against the contact-stop d, in which case the current of the local battery L will successively traverse both the armature-lever and the contact-lever.

In Fig. 1 the main battery E is represented as placed at the distant or receiving station B, and is preferably divided into two unequal sections, 6 and c, of which 6 may with advantage contain the larger number of elements. R is the elect-ro-magnet of the recording or registering apparatus, and Z is the markinglever, which, by means of a style or tracer, Z,

v 2 c. A 284.48l

, marks the telegraphic characters upon a strip understood, and need not be described. The

yielding contact-lever n is normally held against the contactstop o by the tension of the spring 1), but is so situated with reference to the extremity of the marking-lever I that when the latter is caused to descend by, the attraction of the magnet B it will come in contact with the lever n at the same instant that themarking-point l touches the paper strip which is moving above it upon the roller 1*, and therefore whenever the marking-point Z is. forced into the paper the yielding contact-lever a will at the same instant be separated from the fixed contact-stop 0.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: When the key K is depressed, the current from the entire battery E (the latter being connected to-the ground at G) passes by wire 1,-contactstop 0, contact-lever a, wire 2, electro-magnet R of the recording apparatus, line-wire 3, relay magnet M, wire 4, key K, and wire 5, to the ground at G. As the current of the whole battery E now traverses the electro-magnet It, its armature is powerfully attracted, the clockwork of the register is set in motion, and the marking-point Z is pressed into the moving strip of paper, while at the same instant the lever Z simultaneously makes an electrical contact with the yielding lever n and interrupts the contact previously existing between said lever and the fixed contact-stop 0. By this action the greater section, e, of the main battery E is cut out; but the lesser section, 6, still remains in the circuit of the line by the way of the wire 6 and marking-lever Z, and

produces a current having suificient strength tocause the lever Z to be maintained in position until interrupted by the opening-of the key K at the sending-station. The closing of the key K, and of the main circuit also, causes the home relay M to attract its armature and bring the lever thereof against the yielding. contact-lever c. If the recording apparatus has i properly performed its oifice, the current. traversing the line will be at the same moment weakened by the cutting out of the greater section, 6, of the main battery E, and the short arm of the lever 0, being held in position by the retractile force of thespringg, will act as astop. The local circuit of the batteryLwill therefore be closed by way of a, c, and d, and hencethe receiving instrument S will respond to the movement of the key K. If, however, the

marking-lever Z at the receiving-station has from. any cause failed to respond to the movement of the key K, the full power of the battery E will continue to flow through theline as long as the key. remains depressed, and the armature-lever a will be so" strongly pressed against the shorter arm of the contact-lever c as to overcome the tension of the spring 9 and cause it to yield, thus separating the lever c from the stop d. The local circuit being thus broken, the receiving-instrument S cannot respond. It will therefore be obvious that so long as the receiving-instrument S responds properly to each -movement of the key K the sending-operator may be certain that the marking-lever I at the distant station is properly performing its oifice.

The invention may be modified in the man ner illustrated in Fig. 2, so as to be available for transmission in either direction. In the drawingsa single terminal station is represented, and the apparatus, as arranged, may be used either for sending or receiving. In

this case-themainbattery E, bymeans of which the transmission is effected, is preferably-placed at the sending instead of the receiving station, and the weakening of the currentupon thejlineby the movement of the marking-leveris efi'ected through the agency of a rheostat. or artificial resistance, X, which is inserted-in the circuit of the main line at the receiving-station, in lieu of cutting out a portionofthemain battery, as in the first instance. The currents transmitted from the battery E go to line by way of 7, 8, and/ .9, passing through the relay M, while the received currents, when the other station is sending, come in by the way of 9, 8, 10, 11,

and 12, passing through the electro-magnet R of the register. hen the marking-lever .l descends, it separates the lever n from the stop 0, and thus causes the main circuit to pass through the rheostat X, whereby its strength is diminished and the same effect produced as if a portion of the battery were takeniofi. In every other respect the operation is precisely the same as in the arrangement hereinbefore described.

When the line to be operated is of considerable length, the recording-instrument may with advantage be operated by a relay and local circuit, in a manner well understood.

I claim as myinvention 1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a fixed contact-stop, a

yielding contact-lever normally held against said stop, a line-wire connected with said contact-lever, an armature-lever actuated byan electro-magnet, which is included in said linewire, a main battery in two sections, acon-' ductor extending from one terminal of the battery to the earth, a conductor extending from the other terminal of the battery to the fixed contact-stop, and a conductor extending from the armature-lever to a point between the two sections of the battery.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of an electro-magnet, armature, and armature-lever, a fixed contact-stop, a yielding contact-lever normally held against said contact-stop, and capable of being sepa= rated therefrom by the pressure of the armature-lever when in contact therewith, and a local or secondary circuit which traverses the armaturcdever, the fixed contact-stop, and the contact-lever, when the contactlever is simultaneously in contact both with the armature-lever and the fixed contact-stop, and not otherwise.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of an electro-magnet, armature, and armature-lever, a fixed contact-stop, a yielding contact-lever normally held against said contact-stop, but capable of being removed therefrom by the pressure of the armature-lever when in contact therewith, a local or sec ondary circuit which traverses the armaturelever, the fixed contact-stop, and the contactlever, when the contact-lever is simultaneously in contact both with the armature-lever and the fixed contact-stop, and not otherwise, and a receiving-instrument included in said local circuit.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

FRANK L. POPE.

Vitnesses:

'Jos. L. GooMBs,

A. H. Nonms. 

